This is a hybrid seminar on Teams and at the Virginia Woolf Building, King’s College London, 22 Kingsway, London, WC2B 6LE.

Booking for this event is via links at the foot of this page.

About this hybrid seminar

Social workers have always been working with older people, but the role has often been invisible to outsiders and frequently under-appreciated – it has a ‘hidden history’ which needs to be better understood in a changing context.

This hybrid seminar will reflect on the evolution of this field of social work, looking back to the pre-1939 Poor Law legacy and how it was challenged and transformed by the aspirations of the post-war welfare state, care management and new approaches to partnership working.

Bob Hudson will explore the evolution of policy since 1945, including reference to the pre-war context. What were the drivers of change and what have been the consequences for social work?

Jill Manthorpe will look at practice in the 1940/50s through the writing of psychiatric social worker Miss M (Muriel) H Bree, outlining her role in providing after-care to patients with dementia-related syphilis amid the slow development of dementia social work specialisms.

Alisoun Milne will examine the rise and fall of care management, offering some critical reflections on the Griffiths Report on community care and its consequences, the practice of care management and its implications for social work.

Bridget Penhale will review the emerging awareness of abuse of older people and the consequences for practice and policy.

This is a Social Work History Network event. See recent and upcoming events from the SWHN.

To book

Booking (essential) is now open for this hybrid event, which takes place on 6 November 2023, 14:00 to 16:00 (UK). Please click on the appropriate link below to book to attend, either in person or online. All welcome!

Book to attend IN PERSON: Virginia Woolf Building, King's College London, 22 Kingsway, London, WC2B 6LE. Names will be held by Security at the entrance of the building. Find the Virginia Woolf Building (nearest tube: Holborn).

Book to attend ONLINE: The meeting will be on MS Teams. If you register we will send out a Teams link.

We will have a tea break at around 15:00.